I was going to bite my tongue but just couldn't
I wrote a post about infrastructure and what comes back is comments about line men working in the hot sun. News Flash, Linemen dont make infrastructure decisions.
Here's an excerpt from a recent article:
Washington blackout highlighted aging electrical grid
WASHINGTON | By Valerie Volcovici
The fact that a severed transmission line in Maryland could cut power to much of the nation's capital became the latest warning sign that the country's aging electrical grid can't meet modern demands.
Tuesday's widespread power outage came just weeks before the Department of Energy (DOE)is expected to release recommendations for modernizing the country’s electricity infrastructure. The department recently spearheaded a 15-month review that examined the country’s energy transmission, storage, and distribution infrastructure.
The U.S. electrical grid, designed to serve far fewer people than it does today, faces a range of challenges that were unanticipated when it was built, including threats of cyber attacks, a need to incorporate power from renewable energy sources and the likelihood of more frequent and severe storms as a result of climate change.
Among the improvements the DOE may recommend are boosting the system’s ability to store electricity for use at peak times, increasing the use of real-time data to respond faster to outages, and making the grid better able to operate seamlessly with a mix of conventional fuels such as natural gas and the more intermittent energy of renewables such as solar or wind.
All those changes would require massive – and expensive – upgrades of the existing transmission system.
"All of our critical infrastructures are fragile," said Admiral Bill Gortney, head of U.S. Northern Command.
Much of the backbone of the grid was designed in the 1950s, with 70 percent of transmission lines and transformers now at least 25 years old, and 60 percent of circuit breakers dating back about 30 years, according to a report by the National Governors Association.
"If Thomas Edison came back and saw the electric grid, he would still recognize it," said Tom Willie, CEO of Blue Pillar, a company that manages backup energy systems for companies.
Anybody want to debate me. Bring it on.